AI Recipe: Organize your thoughts quickly with NotebookLM's new Mind Map feature
Ever feel overwhelmed with a million thoughts racing through your mind? Whether it's work tasks, personal to-dos, creative ideas, or random reminders, keeping everything in your head can be exhausting. Instead of letting thoughts pile up, use Google’s Mind Map feature in NotebookLM to offload, organize, and make sense of your thoughts visually.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty Level: Easy
Ingredients:
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A NotebookLM account with access to Mind Maps
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A few minutes to brain dump what’s on your mind
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An open-ended mindset (this is for clearing thoughts, not perfect structure)
Instructions:
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Start with Morning Pages: Before opening NotebookLM, take a few minutes to free-write your thoughts in your favorite text editor (Google Docs, Notion, etc). Set a timer for two minutes and write whatever comes to mind. Write without filtering, just let your mind flow. Here's an example of what your morning pages might look like.
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Export Your Thoughts as a PDF: Once you’ve completed your Morning Pages, save or export them as a PDF so you can upload them into NotebookLM.
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Open NotebookLM: Log into your Google account and open NotebookLM. Click “Create” and upload the PDF as a source. Name the notebook something like Daily Mind Dump.
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Generate a Mind Map: Click the Mind Map button in the Chat panel, and let AI organize your thoughts into structured categories. Click the generated Mind Map in the right panel under 'Notes'.
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Dive In: Explore the map, expand branches by selecting the arrows, download an image of the mind map. You can also click on a node to chat further about a topic. As you add more daily morning pages as sources, you'll be able to create more clarity around recurring themes.
Serving Suggestions:
Morning Clarity Boost: Use a mind dump to set daily intentions and priorities
End-of-Day Reflection; Unload stress and plan ahead for a smoother tomorrow
Creative Brainstorming: Capture and connect ideas for projects, content, or problem-solving
If you end up trying this, let me know what you end up using it for and I might feature you in an upcoming newsletter edition!
This recipe was originally published in the Idea Kitchen newsletter (simple recipes for using AI). Check out the original post, including step-by-step screenshots of my example here.
Love this idea. I’m always thinking there should be some great ways to use NotebookLM. It’s such a singular tool. But I always scratch my head trying to think of use cases. I think I’ll try this!
I feel that! That's one of the reasons why I started my Idea Kitchen newsletter. I wanted one place with a collection of real-life use cases. Couldn't find it, so I started building it. Glad you found the recipe helpful!
If you want more ideas on how to use NotebookLM, you might also like this recipe on their new 'Discover Sources' feature: https://ideakitchen.substack.com/p/ai-recipe-turn-experts-into-mentors
Great idea. I struggled with the mess this week and thought about using classic brain dumps to categorize my tasks, but this is a more fun way to do it. And it's more effective: first of all, I finally tried to use NotebookLM, and I didn't need to make my morning pages in English; I wrote them in Ukrainian, but NotebookLM translated everything, extracted context, and categorized tasks very clearly.
This is such a helpful way to use NotebookLM—finally, a clear method for organizing the mental mess we all carry around! I love how it starts with a simple brain dump and turns into something structured and visual without feeling forced. It reminds me of my Tillie Beads bead bag—each little bead might seem random at first, but when they come together, they tell a story. That’s what this mind map feels like: turning scattered thoughts into something meaningful.
Really excited to try this out, especially for end-of-day reflections!
Wow. Just blew my whole world open. Thank you
Ah, glad you liked it! 🙌
awesome. thank you :)
Trying this out now!
Awesome! How'd it go?
This sounds great, Get out of the clutter in mind. Things feel overwhelming while working on many things at a time, we need break sometimes and also clarity. This approach helps us get the clarity and organize the thoughts in mind.
Oh that's cool! Will try to integrate it into my morning routine :)
this won't work. these maps have been known for a long time. but unfortunately - a person is more complex than a reference book:). although I really liked the idea. thank you.
Thanks for this
Wishing you success with your project! Have you thought about crowdfunding as a way to secure funding and build your audience?